IMPACT 16 by Concordian International School

ISSUE 16 MAY 2016

SUMMER ISSUE

Harvard Model Congress Asia 2016

Alumni Update Kelin Ye Class of 2011

The Voice of Concordian III

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Editor’s Note

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Message from the Board of Trustees

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Showcase - University Acceptance List 2016 - U-11 Boys Football Team - Senior Badminton Team - U-15 Boys Football Team - U-11 Girls Football - Girls Volleyball - FOBISIA Swim Meet at Phuket!

- Concordian Mathletes!

- Student Spotlight!

- MUN in Bangkok - Harvard Model Congress Asia 2016 Community Service - Junior Achievement Donation - Dublin Literary Awards - For Community Service there are never barriers when love is concerned!

- Camillian Home Alumni Update - Kelin Ye (Class of 2011)

Magnolia (ดอกแมกโนเลีย) Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles.

To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough.

Its symbols of perseverance, nobility, beauty, sweetness, dignity and love of nature. The white magnolia flower meanings include purity and perfection. The pink magnolia flowers mean youth and innocence added with joy.

CONCORDIAN

แมกโนเลียเป็นสกุลไม้โบราณที่วิวัฒนาการขึ้นมาก่อนที่จะมีผึ้ง รูปทรงของดอกจึงเป็นทรงที่ล่อให้ด้วงมาช่วยผสมพันธุ์ ฉะนั้น เกษรตัวเมีย จึงค่อนข้างแข็งแรงเพื่อป้องกันความเสียหายจากการ 2 ถูกปีนและถูกแทะโดยด้วง เป็นสัญลักษณ์ของความเพียร, ไฮโซ, ความงาม, ความหวานศักดิ์ศรีและความรักของธรรมชาติ แมกโน เลียสีขาวความบริสุทธิ์และความสมบูรณ์แบบ แมกโนเลียสีชมพู หมายถึงความบริสุทธิ์ของเยาวชนและเพิ่มด้วยความสุข

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DP/MYP - State of the High School - MYP Update - Middle School Student Council

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PY/EY - Science in the PYP - Building Our Learning Community Parent Workshop: Making the PYP Happen - K3 Students Sharing Their Knowledge

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Special Feature - Practical Ways to Raise Your Children

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Events&Activities - Lock-In - The History Bowl & Bee Club - EY Fun Sports Day 2015 - PYP Sports Day Highlights - “The Perfect Gift” EY Winter Concert 2015 - The Voice of Concordian III (G6-12) - PYP The Voice of Concordian - Dance Concordian!

- PTA Festival of Love - Concordian Inter-School Team Chess Tournament 2016 - Intramurals at Concordian - G7 Religious Studies Fieldtrip - The Library at Concordian

Dear Impact Readers,

T

he unforgiving heat is here. The rain is sure to come. To many, this signifies the hot and rainy season in Thailand.

To me and many others, this means the very near end to another school year at Concordian. The teachers, parents, and students are trying their best to implement the last preparations for the Class of 2016 to go off on their own; preparing them for successful lives as adults. The rest are preparing for a jump to the next grade level – also with success!

I personally am rounding out my first year at Concordian.

I have been educated this past year in so many ways and am thankful for it. I have learned about and have seen first-hand this unique community in action. Describing Concordian as a unique community could mean so many things. I assure you, I say it in the best way possible.

In this issue of IMPACT you will read about many of the accomplishments and accolades of the students here in academics, the arts, athletics, and so much more which is very impressive, and we are proud of that. We all should be. What impresses me most is my interaction with you all in the halls every day. Yes, when I walk down the halls, I see rambunctious, curious, and excited kids – as all kids should be. I also see kids treating each other, their teachers, and administrators with respect. I see a love for learning. I see the passion of teachers who have an unbelievable care for the Concordian students and demonstrate it every day in the classroom, on the field, or in their supervision during arts performances and displays! I see role modeling by the whole community to accomplish our mission statement and community values which contain words such as compassion, integrity, responsibility, creating world leaders who make a positive difference, among many others. So in short, I am impressed Concordian! Job well done.

Please enjoy our last issue of IMPACT for the 2015-2016 school year! There are many things to be excited about in this issue, but be assured, there are many more to come!

Sincerely, Nicki Deidrick Editor

Please contact K. Prinz at 083-049-1919 prinz@concordian.ac.th

Nicki Deidrick Wanlapha (Prinz) Sa-ardwong

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Message from Board

Concordian is well in its 15 years!

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e are still only one of a few schools that offers Immersion Chinese in a full IB school anywhere in the world. On top of that, we are still teaching in three languages. We are now graduating our 7th year of students, and our student population is reaching full capacity.

This year we are facing a major re-accreditation of three agencies, which we are posed to complete by the year’s end

As with keeping in line with our mission statement, we are constantly learning and expanding our understanding of how to manage the school. Our board is scheduled to conduct a good governance workshop this year. This will ensure that the board is focused and adheres to international good practices for the running of the school. This workshop will be attended by the management of the school together with the board I would like to welcome the following new members: to ensure that we work together as one unit. This will provide a good understanding of how to fulfill • Ms. Supakkarn Pantisoontorn, who has children the mission statement which is the driving force at in the EYP and PYP. Concordian International School.

• Dr. Chawin Chantharasenawong, Associate Dean at KMUTT, who also has children in EYP and PYP. We are constantly looking for new members in • Mr. Suravit Kongmebhol, who has a child in the order to advise or join the board and lead the MYP. school in this ever changing world. We welcome new ideas and the review old ones to ensure that They join together with our existing members who our students and community are receiving the also represent MYP and DP grade levels. best and most up to date teaching and practices.

Within the past year we have completed a strategic plan, guided realignment of the MYP and have approved an expansion of the school to meet the needs of the upper grades. To fulfill this, we are happy to welcome three new members to our board. They represent the different levels of the IB program.

Thank you for your gift to educate and lead the new leaders of tomorrow.

Sincerely, 4 CONCORDIAN

John Chu Chairperson Board of Trustees Concordian International School

As of April 2016

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CONGRATULATIONS

2016 TO THE CLASS OF

for having been accepted to these prestigious universities around the world.

United Kingdom

Aberystwyth University Imperial College London King’s College London (2) London School of Economics and Political Science SOAS University of London St George's, University of London (MD) The University of Edinburgh University College London (3) University of Birmingham University of Buckingham University of Essex University of Exeter University of Kent (2) University of Leicester University of Reading (2) University of Southampton University of Warwick

Thailand

Chulalongkorn University (3) King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi (2) Thammasat University*

Switzerland Franklin University* Les Roches International School

United Arab Emirates New York University Abu Dhabi**

United States of America

Abilene Christian University Baylor University* Bentley University Boston University Carroll University* Florida Institute of Technology (2)* Hamline University Hofstra University* Luther College** Northeastern University (2) Parsons School of Design* Penn State University Purdue University Savannah College of Art and Design (2*) School of Art Institute Chicago* School of Visual Arts Simon Fraser University St. John's University* Transylvania University* University of California, Davis University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego* University of Cincinnati (2)* University of Evansville (4*) University of Illinois at Chicago University of Michigan–Flint University of San Francisco*

Australia

Monash University University of Adelaide University of Melbourne (2) University of New South Wales University of Sydney Western University

Canada

Quest University University of British Columbia (3)* University of Toronto*

Germany

Jacobs University*

Hong Kong

City University of Hong Kong (2)* The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Polytechnic University* The University of Hong Kong*

Japan

Nagoya University Tokyo International University

Netherlands

Maastricht University* The Hague University (3) University of Groningen (2)

New Zealand People’s Republic of China

University of Auckland (MD)

Fudan University (MD)

* Scholarship offered / ** Full Scholarship offered / (X) Number of offers / (MD) Medical Doctor Divided by Areas of Study

Mathematics University of Evansville California State Polytechnic University, Pomona University of Michigan-Flint University of California, Riverside Northeastern University St. John’s University University of Illinois Chicago University of British Columbia University of Toronto

Engineering Penn State University University of Cincinnati Liberal Arts/ Informational Foundation Maastricht University Boston University The University of Hong Kong University of Reading Monash University University of Adelaide Western University University of Sydney Quest University Linguistics University of Warwick King’s College London SOAS university of London University College London Chulalongkorn University University of Melbourne

Biology/Science/ Chemistry/ Environmental Studies University of Evansville University of Cincinnati Purdue University The Hague University University of Groningen Computer Science University of Evansville Pre Medicine/ Pharmacology/Dentistry Transylvania University Florida Institute of Technology King’s College London University College London Imperial College London St. George, University of London University of Auckland Fudan University Carroll University University of Evansville Hofstra University Hamline University

Political Science/ International Relations/ Social Science University of Essex Aberystwyth University University of Melbourne University of Kent Tokyo International University University of Leicester University of Exeter Nagoya University Simon Fraser University University of Reading University of Birmingham University of Southampton Psychology Chulalongkorn University Monash University Adelaide University Western University University of Sydney University of New South Wales

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Business/ Economics/ Management/ Social Policy New York University Abu Dhabi Jacobs University Franklin University The Hague University University College London London School of Economics and Political Science Hong Kong Polytechnic University City University of Hong Kong Thammasat University University of Buckingham University of British Columbia University of Reading Bentley University Northeasthern University Boston University University of British Columbia University of Groningen Chulalongkorn University The University of Edinburgh

Architecture/Arts/ Design King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi Parson School of Design Savannah College of Art and Design University of Evansville The University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chulalongkorn University School of Visual Arts School of Art Institude Chicago

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By: Coach Joao

The U-11 Boys Football Team! By: Coach Joao Delgado

The U-11 this year has joined a much stronger league group and has already tasted the savor of Victory and Defeat! They will be having their TISAC tournament 23rd of March here at Concordian! Let’s all support them until the last game!

TISAC Senior Badminton Tournament Girls Doubles : First place Mixed Doubles : First place Boys Doubles : Third place Boys Singles : Third place Girls Singles : Fourth place Team Standings - 2nd Place Congratulations Boys : Shin G10 (Boys Doubles) Max G10 (Boys Doubles) Krij G12 (Mixed Doubles) Chris G12 (Boys Singles)

6 Girls : May G10 (Girls Singles) CONCORDIAN

Cherry G10 (Girls Doubles) Eye G10 (Girls Doubles) Pakkard G11 (Mixed Doubles)

By: Coach Tiew, Coach Yatima

Players are best friends and they demonstrate true team spirit in victory and defeat!

This team has been playing for two years here at Concordian!

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ur IMPACT reporter visited with the football players who play every Thursday with Grasshoppers and discovered that the U-15 boys team has something special.

IMPACT – What gives this team a special chemistry?

Player – That’s a good question because you see already we have a connection between each other.

Maybe it comes from hanging out as friends and many of our families doing things together on vacations. Maybe because we all play music and share a similar groove. Definitely we all love football.

IMPACT – Do you have a Messi or Ronaldo on the team?

Player – Tan is probably our Ronaldo. He made goals during our League play that had the other team’s defense scared the next time he got the ball. He had a sweet goal in TISAC Tournament against KIS where he cut and faked a few players and blasted it in the corner. Cutting is Tan’s specialty and he can shoot left or right. Peem, too, can shoot well with both feet. Coach K. insists we use both feet and it really helps. Oh, in Thailand, Puthip is one of the top goalkeepers from his age group. It is not just his positioning and awareness, but the sensational saves that he makes.

Puthip, always the balanced IB student, creates geometrical shadow patterns before performance

IMPACT – You were the first team from Concordian to play in an international tournament. How did that feel?

Player – Yeah, it was so much fun at Myanmar. We were playing well and everyone was watching us by the second game and cheering for “the Thai team”. It kind of inspired us and we played even harder, made it to the finals, and lost a tough one. What’s really weird is the same thing happened this year when we hosted the SEAIS Tournament. We played very well, made it to the finals and got beat. Not next time though.

IMPACT – We wish you all the best of luck and will be ready to cheer for you at Dragons Football Festival in May.

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CONCORDIAN

IMPACT – Are there upcoming tournaments that you will go to?

Player – The biggest one is the Alaska Cup in the Philippines in November. Still this year, we play in the Eastern Seaboard High School Tournament soon and have our own Dragons Football Festival on May 14.

IMPACT – Coach K, what do you say about this team?

Coach K - Coach Yuri saw the potential with these guys.

He and I made a 3 year plan for them when he handed the team over to me. We are at a stage now where many of the players are improving individually with skills and technique, quickness on the ball, and increased endurance. In the next few months we will be working on connections of 4 and 5 players and coming together as a unit. By playing in international tournaments we get exposure and the boys see how top clubs perform that train year round. By the time they graduate I want these Dragons to have what it takes to play at the university level.

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By: Coach Kim

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he U-11 Girls’ Football team are off to a great start! They’ve been practicing 2 times a week to improve their skills and be able to work as a team. The girls have played 5 games and still have 2 more, plus a tournament on March 23. Come out on March 22 at 1:00pm to cheer on the girls for their final home game!

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earning a new sport is hard, exciting, and takes courage. That is exactly what these Grade 9 ladies did in January when they attended their very first official volleyball practice! We have seen so much growth in teamwork, skill, footwork, and determination in this team. We can’t wait to see what the future continues to bring for this group of talented young ladies!

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By: Coach Martin and Coach Nicki

CONCORDIAN

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I

t was an early Thursday morning. Most of the swimming team members were all together in Suvarnabhumi airport.

The plane was about to take off, and we were crowded around the boarding area. We all sat next to our parents, some were doing homework and some were playing games.

The first day was just getting used to the weather in Phuket. The next day we all woke up very early to get to the British School that we were having the swim meet in. We got there before all the other schools so we started the warm up before them. About an hour later, we were holding a Concordian Flag like the other schools with their flags, walking all around the pool. Concordian had about 10 swimmers, and all the other teams had about 30-50 swimmers, some even more. There were a lot of other schools, including some from overseas!!!

The racing part was short and quick; it’s like no turning back after jumping into the pool. You just had to swim as fast as you could. After everyone finished, we all went back to the hotel or a restaurant.

The race lasted for about three days. The flight back was delayed. We had to wait for about another hour in the airport, which was super boring. Thinking back to practicing for the meet, I think we all worked really hard. It all started from November, swimmers that went to the FOBISIA meet stayed about 30 more minutes to practice every time.

Beck and Thomas each got a medal. Beck got a Bronze and Thomas got Silver. Pei Pei and Nana did very well.

They’ve won a lot of ribbons.

The youngest girl that went was Arpi. She is still in Kindergarten!!! Henry and Wei-en also went. They were very excited. Sun had only one event freestyle, but he did well on the freestyle. Titan and Auyush are very fast swimmers. We are lucky to have them there. I thought Bloomy and I did very well, although we both only got one ribbon. It gets harder when you are older. The race was memorable. It was my first race going to somewhere that far.

Swimming team Captain Rose Grade 5

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By: Mr. Ravi

P

lease applaud the following students for their achievement in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge (IMC) organised by United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) and American Mathematics Competitions (AMC 8) organised by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

UKMT INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE (IMC) RESULTS (February 4, 2016): This academic year our students achieved 6 Gold, 16 Silver and 22 Bronze Certificates. This year we have 7 students that have qualified for the next round. This is a great achievement for our school and for our students.

Grade 10 Nickname

Pena Pien Pien Golf Mawin Shin Ong Cherry Max May Thon Eric Adi Sa-e Non Teddy QQ

Grade 9 Certifacate

GOLD GOLD GOLD SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE

Nickname

Al Part Fah Tee Almond Li Bacon First Jasmine Kitty Miw Mew Prim Pound Yuyu Nick

Certifacate

GOLD GOLD SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE

AMERICAN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION (AMC 8) RESULTS (November 17, 2015)

CONCORDIAN

Prippraodao (Jaokha), from grade 8

● High achieving score/school winner certificate

● scoring in the top 1%

● first place (Gold Certificate) Puthip (Pu), from grade 8 10

● second place (Silver Certificate) Rabin (Robin), from grade 7

● second place (Silver Certificate) Pluedtipol (Shoeng Shoeng), from grade 6

● third place (Bronze Certificate)

Grade 8 Nickname

Jaokha Bam Chan Lily D. Magga Mammoth Min Pu Eik Mun Mun Pim Tata

Certifacate

GOLD SILVER SILVER SILVER SILVER BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE BRONZE

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Name: Demo Grade: Grade 2 Who are your teachers: Ms. Shari and and Ms. Yvonne What is your favorite thing to learn about: I like to play hockey so PE! What do you want to do when you grow up: I don’t know.

What is the best thing about school: I learn a lot.

Name: Yo Yo Grade: Grade 3 Who are your teachers: Mr. Tye and Ms. Amanda What is your favorite thing to learn about: PE! What do you want to do when you grow up: I want to be a business man.

What is the best thing about school: I like to play with my friends.

Name: Kamlai Grade: Grade 6 Who is your homeroom teacher: Mr. Scott What is your favorite thing to learn about: Art is my favorite subject.

What do you want to do when you grow up: I want to be an Architect.

What is the best thing about school: I like to meet friends.

Name: Tepan Grade: Grade K3 Who are your teachers: Mr. Tim and Ms. Mandy What is your favorite thing to learn about: I like to learn about animals.

What do you want to do when you grow up: I want to help my dad in business.

What is the best thing about school: My favorite is playing on the playground.

Name: Minho Grade: Grade 12 Who is your homeroom teacher: Dr. Tresa What is your favorite thing to learn about: Computer Science What do you want to do when you grow up: I want to be in some kind of business management.

What is the best thing about school: It’s a very warm and caring place.

The teachers are nice, and we have great facilities.

Name: Fiona Grade: Grade 6 Who is your homeroom teacher: Mr. Steve What is your favorite thing to learn about: PE and Art What do you want to do when you grow up: I want to be a designer and design new inventions!

What is the best thing about school: I always have fun and study with my friends.

CONCORDIAN

Thank you Demo, Yo Yo, Kamlai, Tepan, Minho, and Fiona for participating in IMPACT Magazine’s student spotlight!

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HISMUN By: Shertam (Grade 10)

rom the 30th to 31st of January, thirteen members of Concordian Model United Nations club participated in a conference hosted by Harrow International School Bangkok. Model United Nations is an educational simulation where students engage in debate to adopt an optimal resolution on different topics relating to international relations, diplomacy, world issues, and the United Nations.

Concordian delegations were put into six different committees such as Legal Committee, Environmental Committee, and Security Council to debate about current global issues. Along with two of Concordian members, Shertam and Ali, who had been selected as a chair in the ECOSOC committee and the Human Rights Councils to control and ensure successful debates and to ensure the committees ran smoothly. Throughout the two day conference, Concordian delegates developed their public speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills while making new friends with students from other 17 international schools in Southeast Asia

F

in Bangkok O

WISMUN

n February 28, 2016, a group of thirteen Concordian students engaged in a fruitful debate at a conference hosted by Wells International School. Four students including Shertam, Pien Pien, Waad, and Eliz were selected to chair in the Security Council, DISEC, and Environmental Committee. Delegates participated in an intense debate session and had the opportunity to meet new people from three other international schools.

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As a parliamentarian for CISMUN, I am truly happy to have seen the determination of Concordian students to make a positive change in the world in accordance to the school’s mission statement “make a difference in the world”. On behalf of all delegates, I would like to express my greatest appreciation and sincerest gratitude towards Mr. Rich, Mr. Ehrhart, Ms. Loo, Ms. Noon, and K. Aoh for guiding and sacrificing their weekend to supervise us at numerous conferences.

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By: Waad (Grade 11)

(Adapted from the official Harvard Model Congress website)

H

osted by an officially recognised and wholly studentrun organisation at Harvard College, Harvard Model Congress Asia (HMCA) is an international conference, where international high school students from different corners of the World would come together to collaboratively learn and experience the systems of the government of the United States, intergovernmental organisations and political bodies through role-playing as the officials who are crucial parts of those committees. Students from more than twenty nations converge at the conference to address social issues those organisations are currently facing across the world. Students, while role-playing as the officials, delegates or congressmen, would be researching and discussing contemporary political issues to draft policy, report news stories, or decide court cases, all under the guidance of Harvard University students.HMCA 2016 was held on January 7-10 at Seoul National University, which is highly regarded as one of the best and the biggest universities in Korea.

Concordian was the only school from Thailand that participated in the event. 7 high school students and 2 chaperones went on the trip to Korea, one of our most memorable learning experiences. This conference is the only international conference abroad that our school joined due to the extended amount of preparation and commitment required from both students and the school. Each student individually chose to register for committees that suited their own interests in wide ranges of different contexts and procedures. For example, two students signed up for committees in the United States congress while the rest signed up for committees concerning the United nations or other officials. Each type of committee, unlike the usual Model United Nations, have their own rules and procedures.

Therefore, the students and our Model United Nations Club’s advisors, Mr. Rich and Ms. Loo, had to come together to prepare certain background knowledge, study the unusual procedures, and build skills that were needed for this conference.

At the conference, each student experienced unique challenges. Some had to overcome their lack of courage to debate while some had to face challenges due to competitions or cultural differences. However, as participants gradually learned through the time we spent discussing and collaboratively working together, we created an irreplaceable bond among the committee members and a wider understanding of the world through the new perspectives. Under their knowledgeable and empathetic guidance, we were interactively guided to investigate into and find solutions concerning pressing global or national issues in the real world, which actually are concerning to numerous levels of society, from each individual to international groups and governments.

Consequently, we have gained unique experiences that will help us in our quest to become passionate world leaders by training us to tackle and investigate problems thoroughly, question any solutions or information being offered to us, and being empathetic towards members of society.

Outside of the conference, we, the Concordian students also learned and experienced some parts of Korean culture, including the way they live, their food, their attitude towards certain issues, and their history. We learned from the point of view of the visitors, who occasionally struggled to travel around or to communicate. However, those struggles often lead us to see small nuances or little details that tourists who are well planned would not see. Sometimes, a long walk in a small crowded alley under the 5 degrees Celsius sky can, not only shows us a part of real Korean culture, such as a quiet local noodle restaurant, but also strengthen bonds among the Concordian participants. Therefore, I could say that joining HMCA 2016 is one of the best decisions the participants had made in their debating careers. They experienced cultures and gained wider ranges of world view, being fostered to become people who could purposefully and willfully contribute to nations and the World, while also enjoying themselves and bonding with friends from several other countries. I would personally say that those one-time experiences and friendships are unforgettable and placed among the most valuable ones in my life.

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Ac

e em v hie

nt students donat i ng

7, 5

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ba ht

Ju nio r

Community Service

u to B

ild A School 20 1 7 Pr o

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t

J

unior Achievement members decided to donate the profit from selling their product (Crayon Ornaments) which was 11,500 baht to Wat Salud Samutprakarn school and Build A School 2017 project.

Junior achievement students donating Sport Equipment to Wat Salud Samutprakarn School

CONCORDIAN

Kamalapa (Pong) with her father, Thanat, first runner up for Central Bangkok region in the 11th Junior Dublin Literary Awards banquet at The Landmark Hotel, March 18th, 2016.

Nattapol (Thon) with his mother, Luck, one of the 14 seventeen finalists for the Central Bangkok region in the 11th Junior Dublin Literary Awards banquet at The Landmark Hotel, March 18th, 2016.

Community Service

For Community Service there are never barriers when love is concerned!

W

e follow the mission statement of CIS which harmonizes perfectly well with the IB philosophy; this is to say to develop in the young students an eager need not only for academic excellence but as well for the development of internationally minded people aware of the common humanity and of needs to build a better world of peace and harmony.

We believe that our students need to be encouraged by the outside world. So we invite them to be engaged in activities where they can be most effective by applying their unique skills, interests, and personal life experiences, so that they can enrich the community at large.

Following that path we have been presented in the outside world, local community, working actively in more than nine programs: Camillian Home, Baan Dekraeron, Baan Haeng Kwarm Wang, Prapradaeng Home for disabled people, Thai Red Cross Rehabilitation Center, Wat Bang Plee Yai Nai School, Concordia Welfare and Education Foundation, Ark -Bangkok School House, Duangjai Nursering Home etc. “We strongly believe that being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.� (Lao Tzu).

Our students, through service to the community, embark themselves in this unending live journey of kindness, hope and warmth.

By: Ms. Emilia ( Milichu ) S. Keats Concordian International School Community Service Coordinator-Advisor

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Camillian Home Peeraya Thongchai (P) Peeraya Thongchai (P) was born on February 17th 1998, and came to Camillian Home on January 27th 2010. She is now 18 years old, 153cm tall and weighs 46.5kg. She stays on the 3rd floor where she receives 24 hour care with her other friends that live with multiple disabilities.

Peeraya always has a big smile for all the volunteers and the visitors. She likes to play with the volunteers, listens to the others and tries to join in the games. She likes to see what is going on in the Home but she needs someone to push her around in the wheelchair. She can move herself around the top floor by crawling on the floor and she can feed herself. She likes to eat and enjoys lots of food and snacks.

Danai Chankeaw (Mos) Danai Chankeaw (Mos) was born on November 23, 2004, and has been at Camillian Home since August 3, 2009.

He is now 11 years old, 131cm tall and weighs 26 kg. He currently is studying in grade 5 at Maliarai School from Monday to Saturday.

He is very interested in computer games and is able to join in the other activities that occur at the Home.

His health is improving as he is more faithful in taking his medicine. He is an average student at school. He enjoys welcoming and playing with the visitors that we entertain. He is small for his age but still strong enough to keep up with his older brothers on the playing field.

Camillian Home for Children Living With Disabilities 81/2 Luangphang Road, Khumthong, Latkrabang, Bangkok, 10520 Thailand Fax: +66 (0) 2360 7853

E-mail: camillianhome@gmail.com www.camillianhomelatkrabang.org www.facebook.com/Camillian.Home

CONCORDIAN

CONCORDIAN

Tel: +66 (0) 2360 7852

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Alumni Update

T

he most important lesson I learnt at Concordian was to expect nothing but the best from myself.

I am eternally grateful to all the teachers at Concordian who genuinely cared about my future. The small class sizes at Concordian means that teachers dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to each student, which really helped me thrive academically. Since the classes are so small, there is nowhere to “hide” and you are constantly challenged to think critically about the course content. Learning and growing in such a tight-knit community motivated me to excel as to not disappoint the people who believed in me. Like my teachers, I was no longer content with being average and gradually stopped tolerating mediocrity.

This mentality that I developed from my time at Concordian has proven invaluable. While university was a big step-up from high school academically, I had the drive to succeed and knew what it meant to work hard. In the 4 years since I left Concordian, I earned both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from world-class universities. I double majored in Economics and Politics at LSE, achieving numerous top 10% / top of the year examination results. I subsequently read the MSc in Financial Economics at Oxford, graduating with Dean’s Commendation. Five years after my time at Concordian, I am working as an Investment Banking Analyst in London, where I have the opportunity to work directly with some of the largest companies in the world.

What’s impressive about a Concordian education is the focus on developing well-rounded leaders. In addition to academics, K. Varnnee and the faculty placed a lot of emphasis on students doing community service and sports. Amongst a plethora of examples, I had the opportunity to travel to rural Thailand and build schools for impoverished children. I believe this kind of experience and culture is only available at Concordian.

In Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, he wrote “treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be”. Concordian is a place that has challenged me to become the best that I can be, and for that reason I am proud to call myself an alumnus.

Kelin Ye Analyst (Senior Intern)

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DP/MYP

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he High School Student Government (HSSG) is committed to represent students responsibly, encourage teamwork, support and create a better educational environment, and enhance the role of students in the school. The officers, Calvin G12 (President), Ali G12 (Vice-President and Secretary) and Waad G11 (Treasurer), alongside with respectable class representatives have allocated tireless time and efforts to achieve this goal.

The HS Student Government started this year with a budget of 50,000, but has spent most of the year in deficit on account of purchasing over 25,000 Baht worth of class shirts for a total of 142 students from grade 9 to grade 12 along with other expenses. The shirts’ cost made us face a budget deficit which was balanced by delivering about 300 Roses and 100 Balloons for the Valentines and organizing booths in the Festival of Love.

In order to encourage teamwork and enhance the role of students in creating an educational environment, we have organized two Spirit Weeks in October 2015 and March 2016. The dress codes of the Spirit Week included: fashion disaster, formal/fancy, pajamas, class shirt, and tribal wear etc. The activities ranged from Jeopardy to breaking ice t-shirts, baking desserts, tug of war, ice-cream contest, and Space Jump etc. Moreover, a Talent Show will be organized in April by the Student Government. In addition, we organized a meeting between DP and Grade 10 students to help them with their DP course selection.

This year was a successful year for the Student Government. We are planning to hold elections at the end of this academic year so that the next government would have enough time to prepare their agenda and 17 uphold our legacy.

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In order to represent students, the Student Government organized a Town Hall in the first semester. Also, we hold three meetings every week to hear and resolve concerns of class representatives in academic and school life issues.

In addition, student concerns about food are delivered to the SODEXO Food Committee by the Student Government. We also hold regular Flag-raising assemblies on Monday to present the announcements, university visits, athletic news, and news of the week etc. The Student Government gives constant feedback on high school news, activities and competitions to students on Facebook or the Monday assemblies.

Calvin Chu represents Concordian in Thailand International School Students’ Council (TISSC) to discuss about inter-school activities and fairs.

On the other hand, in order to ensure that the student rights are maintained and that students are aware of their responsibilities and the rules of the school, the Student Government is drafting a “Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities.” This statement, after being vetted and approved by the PTA, will be included in the High School Bylaws.

DP/MYP

Grade 10 Personal Project Teddy A. The personal project is a big project, it is definitely something that should never be underestimated. Sometimes the personal project kept me up late at night or sometimes even made me feel extremely stressed, but that’s exactly why I learned so much from it. Because of how open the topic selection was, I could apply my knowledge to something that I am actually passionate about. The personal project made me feel excited as well as determined to complete it. The personal project taught me to grow as an individual in many different ways. First of all, it helped me improve in my independence. I also improved in responsibility, organization, inquiring skills, social skills, communication, and reflection. I also grew in other places such as learning to become more caring as well as becoming more aware of my surroundings after a lot of necessary insightful research. I also experienced the beautiful process of inspiration as well as learning to create a product of my passion. This project had been the first project that I spent more time than I expected than to complete it due to my passionate determination. Looking back I have grown so much from it and I feel proud to have finally completed it with my best effort.

Kaew The personal project at first glance to me seemed like an impossible project that I would not be able to complete. However, after actually going through the process I found myself enjoying more as it is ‘personal’ to me. This project has allowed me to discover my true love and passion in medicine, which may later contribute to my future career. The personal project allowed me to develop into becoming a more responsible student, since I have to balance between my school work and the personal project itself. I believe that after this project I have learnt a very good lesson in that procrastination must be avoided as a personal project is not something you can complete in a day. It requires a thoroughly planned timeline, as well as a dedicated effort to follow it. Overall, the personal project was really a memorable event that had happened in my life which remain in my memory forever...

Nat The personal project for me has proven to be one of the most challenging projects I ever have done, but the benefits of it are actually pretty massive. All the skills learned since the beginning of Grade 6 up until now were used in order to create the project. Personally, I have grown a lot throughout this process, not only in terms of knowledge, but as an IB Student as well. I developed and refined many of the ATLs Skills and IB Learner profiles which are the main core of IB. What I believed to be the greatest achievement is not completing the project, but actually is developing these new ATLs Skills. I obtained various skills such as Organization, Critical/Creative Thinking, etc. where all of these are mandatory in the diploma program as well as university. The knowledge I gained from my own project (Sufficiency Economy) is pretty massive. It Impacted me to the point that I will continue using this topic for my Extended Essay. Personal Project allows students to dig into their deepest part of their brain to pull out many miracles and critical ideas or even discover a hidden talent within them. Thus, The personal project, despite giving students a massive amount of duty, in return it unconsciously develops many skills within the students.

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DP/MYP

Grade 9 Service Learning

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n Thursday the 21st of January, the grade 9s had a productive day learning about ocean marine life and how to improve and sustain marine ecosystems. We went to Bang Saen beach to collect garbage and visit the University of Marine Science. In February, they started the Independent Service Project (ISP). Through ISP students have initiated service projects such as reef regeneration at a location in Pattaya, planting trees, wildlife welfare awareness and volunteering at many of our community centres we support.

Concordian students are taking outstanding action in our communities and demonstrating integrity and compassion whilst making a difference in their world.

Pop After going to the service trip at the beach in Bang Saen, I think my awareness for the environment has increased. In the past, I thought that even if the beach’s condition was bad, the government or local people would still come up with some resolutions, which made me feel they neglected the problem.

But after coming to this trip, I understand that my thinking is incorrect, as no one is doing anything but littering more and more garbage. It looks very dirty. So, I am more aware of my surroundings, knowing that if everyone litters, nothing will be better and obviously the environmental problem will get worse. This develops me to become more caring about things around me, which is awareness.

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Bow The environmental impact in Bang Saen beach is that many people tend to litter carelessly along the beach. The trash is not only on the sand but also in the ocean water. Garbage is harmful towards people along there, because it makes the ocean unsanitary and polluted which is not good for the health of someone swimming. Plus sometimes there are sharp objects such as glasses and pins that could harm people who walk barefoot on the sand. During this Environmental Trip, I learned outcomes. I gained awareness, collaboration, and global values. I used awareness, because picking up the trash in front of all the people along the beach acts as a very good example for them. Along the beach, a child saw us, so he and his father also helped us collect the garbage that floated along the ocean. I also learned how to collaborate, because we had to pick the trash together as a group, and each of us has a role. We need collaboration because, it makes the job easier and faster. Lastly, I learned about Global values, because picking up garbage along the beach does impact the environment and the people around us, even if it’s just a little bit. I also got to learn more about the environment and the marine life during the visit to the marine institution as well.

DP/MYP

Grade 8 Community Project 1) Blind People of Thailand­Mammoth By: Angie and Min Our group will research about blind people and find out what their life is like in Thailand using MISO. We will engage in service by volunteering at Blind People of Thailand over February and March. During our volunteer work, we will do activities such as playing games, creating artwork, and chatting. Other than this, we will raise at least 10,000 Baht to donate to the same organization by selling shirts and bags which has the artwork of the blind people on it. Our services include direct and indirect.

2) Pattaya Orphanage­Rada By: Yang, Pim, and Beepo Our group will research the benefit of developing prosocial behaviour in orphans at the Pattaya orphanage. We will foster the children to learn about prosocial behaviour and basic manners; such as, being able to know what is right and wrong. Learn to say, “thank you”, “sorry” and other basic table manners. Lastly, we will organise a bake sale, selling wristbands and asking people around our home for donations to raise at least 15,000 baht to buy medicines, everyday essentials and lunch for the orphans in Pattaya orphanage. The type of services we will incorporate are direct and indirect.

3) Kristajak Bangplee orphanage­ By: Ken, Tang­Tang, Alyssa, and Napat Our group will learn and research about how kids develop in communication and creative thinking skills; on the importance of art education and the impact of it on daily lessons. We will then volunteer at Kristajak Bangplee orphanage in Bangkok as teachers. The type of services we will incorporate are direct and indirect. Lastly, we will organize a bake sale and fundraise 8,000 baht in and outside of school to buy art supplies for use in our lesson, and we will leave the supplies for them to be able to continue their adventure in art at Kristajak Bangplee orphanage.

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4) Urban Gardening By: June, Fern, Magga, and Kris Our group will engage in direct service by educating the PYP students how to grow an organic garden because PYP student council is organizing a school garden for the first time.

We will also engage in indirect service by raising 15,000 baht for PYP Student Council for their school garden. Our group will research information on the effects from eating organic food. For advocacy, our group will make a youtube video about what is urban gardening/ organic. Our group’s target audience is every age since Youtube is a worldwide resource place.

DP/MYP 5) Ban Kru Noi Child Care Center and Orphanage­ By: Lyn, Jaokha, and Chan Our group researched information about orphans in Thailand. We are engaged in direct, indirect and a little bit of advocacy service to Ban Kru Noi Child Care Center and Orphanage by doing collaborative activities with the orphans, fund raising and distributing stickers and information to raise awareness of orphans in Thailand.

6) Underprivileged Children By: ­Lily, Nippon, and Jenny Our group will do a direct service by teaching 30 underprivileged kids in Klong Toei area to improve motor skills, literacy vocabularies, creative thinking skills by making clay and letting the kids mold their own objects and explain. We will be going four times. We will also do an indirect service by fundraising money (5000 baht) to donate in order to buy ingredients and materials for the children and activities.

7) Camillian Home­ By: Puthip, Mun Mun, Kaowhom, and Eik Our goal is to raise 15,000 to 20,000 baht from three days of bake sales in the lobby after school. We will use this money to buy the supplies that the people at Camilian Home in Rayong need. We got the list of the items they need when we visited them last month. Our two types of services are indirect and advocacy. We will do indirect service by buying the supplies they need and donating them. We will do advocacy by creating a presentation with games and activities that will be taught to students in 6th and 7th grade. The two communities we want to help is the Concordian community and the community in Camillian Home Rayong. We want to improve the quality of life for the AIDS victims by buying the supplies they use everyday. A lot of students in Concordian do not know what AIDS is so they are very afraid and feel disgust. I think by presenting information to kids in a fun way, they could be more aware of the seriousness of this issue and they would not feel as disgusted or confused.

8) Recycling­Muk By: Mild and Shin Our group will engage in advocacy and indirect service by raising awareness and change the bad habits of the students related to littering and recycling. In order to achieve this, we will place separated trash cans for different types of waste.

The 3 three types of trash cans are wet trash, recyclable trash (plastic and paper) and others. For our advocacy, we have posters explaining about the issue about littering and recycling to raise awareness of students in our school by building the good habits from separating the trash and not littering around the bins. In order to achieve this, we will attach the poster about littering and recycling around the areas that people would see it easily. Our poster will include facts about how littering and being wasteful affects our world and ways to solve or change this.

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9) Mosquito and Me­ By: Bam, Elim, and Taro To educate younger generations by educating them about mosquito related diseases, the effects it has on humans, and ways to avoid it relating to Scientific and Technical Innovation. Placing DIY mosquito traps and repellent with surrounding materials in the school and passing brochures, playing Youtube videos, and demonstrating in the lobby and classes, will help us educate Concordian. Therefore, raising the client’s awareness of mosquitoes.

DP/MYP

Grade 7 Service Learning Lukphradabos Foundation By: Gring Q1. What are the differences between organic and hydroponic farming?

There are a lot of differences between organic and hydroponic farming. Organic farming requires soils, and the process of checking whether the soil and plants have chemicals during the process of planting or not.

Hydroponic farming only needs water and does not require soils, and the process of planting. They can have chemicals in them because they believe that the chemicals are the useful chemicals.

Q2. What are the pros and cons of growing mushrooms?

There are a lot of pros and cons of growing mushrooms.

The positive things about growing mushrooms are it’s very good for our body, it makes us healthy and it’s very good for vegetarian because it has a lot of protein and can replace meat. The negative things about growing mushrooms are it takes a lot of time, and the smell of the mushrooms attracts insects, which can cause a lot of problems because it eat the plant.

Q3. What did you learn from this visit and how does it relate to Service Learning?

From this visit I learned many things. One of the most important things that I learned is Hydroponic farming is different from organic farming. This kind of farming uses only water and it can have chemicals during the process of planting and growing. Another thing that I learned about growing mushrooms is they use sawdust to plant mushrooms.

Mushrooms grow well in dark places and people usually harvest the mushrooms during the morning. In my opinion, I don’t think this really relates to Service Learning because we did not really help them. We just went there to learn about hydroponic farming.

Q4. Aside from donation, how can you help support this institution?

Aside from donation, you can help support this institution by explaining about this institution to other people; telling them the benefit and why we go there to help them. This will make them interested in going there and help people there.

Grade 6

By: Kru Lek When people are socially denied despite their race, appearance, skin color, personal interests, thoughts or living standards, such things create a form of social exclusion. Humans tend to have an inherent desire to belong to a group or community. The lack of this need leads to frustration and isolation.

How would you feel if you had to sit alone every lunch break all by yourself and did not have anyone to talk to, or people started to exclude you from their groups every time you wanted to join?

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We all feel fulfilled when we are able to interact with friends, talk, share our thoughts and laugh with them. Nobody wants to be excluded and become a piece of scratch paper.

Respect, open mindedness and acceptance of our differences are the key to everlasting friendship.

It develops human growth as well as compassion in

DP/MYP

O

ur mission as the Middle School Student Council (MSSC) is to develop and enrich the lives of students in grades six, seven and eight. Over the past several years, the MSSC has become an essential part of life at Concordian. Our goal is to provide sixth through eighth grade students with opportunities to build not only their identities as individuals, but also their identities within their homeroom, grade level, and the middle school student body as a whole.

As the MSSC, we do our best to motivate students to participate and enjoy activities so that students can enjoy middle school and feel valued. Our most successful activities this year have been our spirit week dress-up days, Festival of Love dunk tanks, Valentine’s Day rose, chocolate and sticker sale, and our after-school-activity week. Kicking off the week, we invited students to the lobby after school for Taco Tuesday which included pork carnitas, slow-roasted chicken, and pico de gallo (a mild salsa). They must have been tasty because all the tacos were gone within the hour! Next, we hosted Wandering Wednesday where our classmates were invited to create their own scavenger hunt teams, and were sent out on missions throughout the school. What a blast watching students race to find riddled locations around the school, where they had to locate lesser-known cities on maps, carefully dispense marshmallows into small jars using only spoons, and precariously keep balloons afloat in blustery breezeways. The next day, we invited our friends to Theater Thursday, where we showed Goosebumps, and served popcorn and chips--the place was packed with students munching away as they watched the frightfully delightful movie. Finally, on Friday, we planned for a food-eating contest but this was put on ice (so to speak) as we had to postpone the event. Keep a lookout for our rescheduled contest.

In wrapping up the last few months of school, we have planned several more events, the most exciting of which will be Concordian’s annual Talent Show. We hope you will blow us all away with your melodic lungs, furious funky feet, and slight of hand. Finally, in May, we will hold MSSC elections for representatives and officers from grades five through seven.

If you would like to hone your leadership skills and help bring positive change to the middle school, run for MSSC. Thank you for all of your support, and please join us as we bring lots of spirited events to campus throughout the rest of this school year.

Ms. Karissa and Ms. Agnes

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By: Ms. Nathalie

PY/EY

T

he PYP advocates the importance of giving students the opportunity to learn about and through traditional subjects such as Science, through authentic and meaningful contexts connected to the real world. In the PYP Science is considered an investigation into the biological, chemical and physical components of the world and it is divided into 4 strands including:

• Living Things characteris- • Earth & Space (natural • Materials & Matter (pro- • Forces & Energy (study tics, systems & behaviors of phenomena/systems shap- perties, behaviors & uses of of energy, its origins, humans, animals, plants…) ing planet; finite & infinite materials…) storage & transfer….) resources…)

Through Units of Inquiry from K1 through Grade 5, Concordian students explore different aspects of science throughout these strands and through their investigations build critical scientific skills including observing data, using scientific vocabulary to explain, planning and conducting investigations, manipulating variables, making and testing predictions, interpreting and evaluating data etc…

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Concordian teachers are committed to providing hands-on science activities, which get the students excited about and interested in science! We aim to nurture our students’ natural curiosity about the world while helping them to acquire important knowledge, build conceptual understandings and gain specific scientific skills that they will eventually bring with them to the MYP.

CONCORDIAN

In their Unit about ‘Communities’ the K3 students visited Kidzania and learned more about what it means to be a scientist.

K3 students exploring the properties of colour through experimenting with mixing colours in their Unit ‘How the World Works.’

Grade 5 students designing a scientific investigation to determine if the circumference of a balloon affects the distance it will travel in their unit about ‘Forces.’

Grade 3 students investigating kinetic and potential energy through a an experiment with balls for their unit about ‘Energy.’

Grade 5 students exploring Newton’s Third Law ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’

K2 students exploring the biological world by learning more about bugs and insects for their Unit on ‘Sharing the Planet.’

Grade 4 students inquiring into ways to defy gravity by exploring the interaction between paper clips and magnets.

Grade 2 students exploring the processes of weathering and erosion as part of an investigation into how landforms change over time.

PY/EY

Building our Learning Community Parent Workshop:

by: Ms.Nathalie

O

n Tuesday, January 26th 2016 around forty-five parents attended a workshop to learn more about the Primary Years Program. It was a great opportunity for parents to learn more about different aspects about the program and to directly experience activities that their own children participate in on a daily basis.

Parents were true inquirers and demonstrated curiosity as they asked questions to learn more about the PYP Curriculum and how their children learn. Parents became more knowledgeable about the program while showing great enthusiasm and confidence as they took part in a series of hands-on activities. We thank all the parents for coming out to the workshop and hope to see many more at PYP Parent Workshops in the future!

Parents organized themselves into a human graph so we could figure out what grade levels from the PYP were represented at the workshop. Parents enjoyed this activity and were asked to consider the benefits of having their own children physically involved in their learning.

Parents were invited to carry out a ‘diamond ranking’ activity where they considered the IB Learner Profile Attributes and were asked to place them in order from most to least important. The purpose of the activity was to get the parents thinking about and discussing the attributes in a meaningful way. Parents had different interpretations and did a gallery walk to see what other groups had come up with.

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Parents were asked to take part in a conceptually driven math activity. Given different questions and key concepts, parents were asked to display their understanding in as many ways as possible and learned the importance of collaboration and communication as they shared their ideas and learned from one other. Parents reflected that through this activity, they had the chance to extend their thinking skills and consider new ways of solving math problems.

PY/EY

U

OI Central Idea: People in communities depend on each other.

During their Chinese led unit on “How We Organize Ourselves� the K3 students learned about how human-made systems and communities are connected as well as the structure and function of organizations.

Throughout the unit, the students explored how people in communities greatly depend on one another. For their summative assessment, the students put together a mini-exhibition which they pretended to open their own businesses such as a Donut shop, Hospital, Toy store, Candy shop and a Cup Cake shop just to mention a few of the many shops. Each student had a working role in each of their shops and had occupations such as a manager, accountant, cashier, and waitress.

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PY/EY

Through the process of designing their career booths, creating goods, and preparing services, students learned how to communicate with their views and work positions. They worked cooperatively and demonstrated their self-management skills throughout the entire process.

The mini-exhibition process allowed the students to make connections between how people in communities are interdependent on one another and how they help each other.

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The exhibition was a great way for the students to share 27 the knowledgeable they have gained about different occupations within a community and were able to communicate their understanding in Chinese with confidence and enthusiasm!

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CONCORDIAN

Special Feature

By: Dr. Prasert Palitponganpim Translate to English by: Kru Pat

P

ractical ways to raise your children was 1st วิธีเลี้ยงลูกอย่างสั้นที่สุด ตีพิมพ์ครั้งแรก นิตยสารV Mag published on V Mag Magazine. ก่ อ นหน้ า จะเขี ย นต้ น ฉบั บ นี้ มี ร ายการโทรทั ศ น์ ม าขอ

Before I wrote this article, I was interviewed by a TV program, but there were several obstacles throughout the interview; low light and noisy background sound for example. Also, the interview was cut down into 1 minute. Therefore, I decided write about the topic I was interviewed for on that day.

There were 4 good questions that were asked during the interview.

เขาถามผม 4 ข้อ เป็นคำ�ถาม 4 ข้อที่ดีมาก คำ�ถามที่หนึ่งถามว่าครอบครัวคืออะไร ผมตอบว่าครอบครัว คือ “มีอย่างน้อยหนึ่งคนให้เด็กเล็กสามารถผูกพันด้วยใน ระยะยาว” เขาอนุญาตให้ตอบเท่านี้ ไม่ให้อธิบาย ต่อไปนี้ เป็นคำ�อธิบาย ผมคิดว่าสังคมปัจจุบันครอบครัวไม่มีโอกาส อยู่กันพร้อมหน้าอีกแล้ว สังคมเมืองพ่อแม่ต่างไปทำ�งาน สังคมชนบทก็เช่นกัน เด็กเล็กต้องอาศัยอยู่กับปู่ย่าตายาย พี่เลี้ยงที่บ้านหรือพี่เลี้ยงที่ศูนย์รับเลี้ยงเด็ก ในสภาพสังคม ที่ครอบครัวเสมือนแตกแยกหรือแตกแยกจริงเช่นนี้ จำ�เป็น มากที่สุดที่เด็กเล็กจะต้องผูกพันหรือสร้างสายสัมพันธ์กับ ผู้ใหญ่ให้ได้อย่างน้อยหนึ่งคน คำ�ว่า “สายสัมพันธ์” มาจาก คำ�ว่า attachment ซึ่งหมายถึงความผูกพัน หรือความ สัมพันธ์ที่แน่นแฟ้น ลึกซึ้งและยาวนานตลอดกาลเสมือนแม่ กับลูกเช่นนั้น วิธีการคือ ผู้ที่เลี้ยงดูเด็ก ซึ่งจะเป็นแม่หรือไม่ใช่ แม่ของเด็กก็ตาม ควรเลี้ยงเขาและเล่นกับเขาให้มากที่สุดบ่อย ที่สุดเท่าที่จะทำ�ได้และแน่นอนว่ามิใช่ทำ�ไปด้วยหน้าที่แต่ทำ�ไป ด้วยความรักที่เปี่ยมล้นและไม่มีเงื่อนไข สายสัมพันธ์จะทำ� หน้าที่ “ดึงรั้ง” ให้เด็กอยู่กับเราทางใจตลอดไป ไม่เฉไฉเข้าหา อบายมุข มีความสามารถควบคุมตนเอง และมีความมุ่งมั่นที่ จะพุ่งไปสู่อนาคต ในอดีตเราเคยเรียกร้องให้คุณแม่ทำ�หน้าที่ นี้ ตอนนี้ผมเรียกร้องใครก็ได้ทำ�หน้าที่นี้ 29 CONCORDIAN

1. What is family?

“There is at least 1 person who little kids can bond with”. My answer to the interview was too short because of the limited time. I will describe more here. Family nowadays are not together anymore.

Not only parents in big cities but also parents in rural areas go to work. Thus the little kids are raised by and grow up with their grandparents, nannies, and even childcare center. Even if your family is a separated family, divorce, or pseudo-divorce, it is essential that young kids have a bond with at least one adult in the family. The word ‘Sai-sum-pan’ has the similar meaning to ‘attachment’ in English.

It means close, deep, and long-standing relationship that is similar to a parent-child relationship.

The easiest way to build this type of relationship is to spend time with your children, playing with them as often as possible. Definitely, your action should be not from your sense of duty but from love, which is deep and unconditional. The ‘secure attachment’ will ‘hold’ the children to be with you forever, not physically but emotionally. They will avoid temptation and be able to control themselves as well as have clear goals regarding their future.

In the past it is believed that to build a ‘sucure attachment’ is the mother’s responsibility but I am now thinking that everyone in the family should do it.

สัมภาษณ์ผมออกทีวี ระหว่างสัมภาษณ์มีเหตุขลุกขลัก มากมาย แสงไม่พอ ไฟไม่พอ เสียงก่อสร้าง เสียงน้ำ�พุ และ ผมเองพูดไม่รู้เรื่อง เดิมก็เป็นคนพูดไม่รู้เรื่องอยู่แล้วบางครั้ง ผู้กำ�กับรายการยังให้ยกมือยกไม้ประกอบแบบนักแสดงก็ยิ่ง ไปกันใหญ่ หลังสัมภาษณ์เสร็จผมทำ�นายว่าอะไรที่พูดไปคง ถูกตัดต่อจนฟังไม่ได้ความอยู่ดี จึงนำ�ความสัมภาษณ์วันนั้น มาเขียนใหม่

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2. What makes a good family?

Good family should have a lot of time together. The amount of time family members spend together is one of the most significant factors. Parents get to know their children better when they spend a lot of time with their kids. You will realize both cute and annoying parts of your children and be happy with that. On the other hand, exhausted and moody parents who have less time might come home late at night only to find that their children have many bad behaviours, from being noisy to their untidy room. When they behave well like help doing housework, those parents might just take them for granted.

คำ�ถามที่สองถามว่าครอบครัวที่ดีเป็นอย่างไร ผมตอบว่า ครอบครัวที่ดีคือครอบครัวที่มีเวลาให้กันมากๆ ปริมาณของ เวลาเป็นเรื่องสำ�คัญอันดับต้นๆ ถ้าเรามีเวลาให้กันและกันมา กอะไรๆก็ดีเอง พ่อแม่ที่มีเวลาให้ลูกเยอะๆจะเห็นทั้งส่วนที่น่า รักและส่วนที่น่ารำ�คาญของลูกๆ พ่อแม่ที่ไม่มีเวลาให้ลูก เข้า บ้านค่ำ�ด้วยอารมณ์หงุดหงิด มักเห็นแต่ข้อเสียของลูก เช่น เก็บของไม่เรียบร้อย เวลาลูกทำ�ความดี เช่น ช่วยล้างจาน กลับไม่ได้เห็นไม่ได้ชื่นชม ทำ�ให้อะไรต่ออะไรดูแย่ลงไปเรื่อยๆ ปริมาณของเวลาจึงเป็นเรื่องสำ�คัญ

3. What are the goals of raising my own children?

Firstly, my children need to be happy. In so doing, I would let my children learn how to be a happy person by themselves when they grow up.

Secondly, my children will not cause trouble to others. Thirdly, they can do good things for others.

To be kind, to help, to give, to do service, to have compassion towards others are the behaviours that can be practiced and will bring happiness to life. The last goal therefore might be the most important. Moreover, in my opinion, these three things are also the basic qualities of a person with good mental health.

คำ� ถามที่สามถามว่าคุณหมอตั้งเป้าหมายของการเลี้ยงลูก อย่างไร ผมตอบว่าผมอยากให้ลูกมีความสุข ไม่ทำ�ความ เดือดร้อนให้คนอื่น และสามารถทำ�ประโยชน์ให้แก่คนอื่น อันที่ จริงคำ�ตอบสามข้อนี้คือความหมายกว้างๆของคนที่มีสุขภาพ จิตดี ข้อแรกคือมีความสุข ซึ่งเถียงกันได้มากว่าแปลว่าอะไร และทำ�อย่างไร อันนี้ผมคิดว่าให้ลูกไปคิดเอาเอง ข้อสองคือไม่ สร้างความเดือดร้อนให้แก่คนอื่น ข้อสามสำ�คัญที่สุดและอาจ จะสำ�คัญกว่าสองข้อแรกคือสามารถทำ�ประโยชน์ให้แก่ผู้อื่น ใจดีกับผู้คน ช่วยเหลือคนอื่น การให้ การบำ�เพ็ญประโยชน์ ความเมตตากรุณา เหล่านี้เป็นคุณสมบัติและความสามารถ ที่ต้องการการฝึกฝนให้เคยชินเป็นนิสัย ทำ�แล้วก็จะมีสุขภาพ จิตดี ทำ�บ่อยๆก็จะเป็นคนมีความสุขไปเอง ข้อสามจึงสำ�คัญ ที่สุด

CONCORDIAN

Flash Back Special Feature

คำ�ถามที่สี่ถามว่าคุณหมอเลี้ยงลูกอย่างไร ผมตอบว่าผม สอนให้ลูกรู้จักลำ�บากก่อนสบายทีหลัง ให้เขาทำ�งานบ้าน ก่อนแล้วค่อยไปเล่นได้ ให้เขาทำ�การบ้านก่อนแล้วค่อยดูหนัง ได้ ให้เขารู้จักสนุกแต่ก็ต้องรู้จักหยุดสนุกด้วย ให้เขามีความ สามารถถอนตัวจากความสนุกกลับบ้าน พูดง่ายๆว่าให้เขามี ความสามารถในการควบคุมตนเอง พูดสั้นๆคือมีวินัย วินัย คือความสามารถในการควบคุมตนเองจากภายใน ซึ่งมิใช่ เรื่องของศีลธรรมหรือจริยธรรม แต่เป็นเรื่องของสายสัมพันธ์ ที่มีกับพ่อแม่และเป็นเรื่องทักษะคือ skill ดังนั้นวินัยมิได้เกิด จากการเทศนาสั่งสอนหรือถือศีลกินเจ มิได้เกิดจากครูใหญ่ อบรมหน้าเสาธง แต่เกิดจากพ่อแม่สามารถผูกพันกับลูก ลูก มีสายสัมพันธ์กับพ่อแม่ คือ attachment สายสัมพันธ์นี้ มองด้วยตาเปล่าไม่เห็นและทอดยาวไกลได้ไม่สิ้นสุด ลูกไป เรี ย นต่ า งจั ง หวั ด หรื อ ต่ า งประเทศก็ ยั ง คงมี ส ายสั ม พั น ธ์ ต่ อ ตรงมายังพ่อแม่อยู่เสมอ ลูกก็จะไม่เลี้ยวเข้าหาอบายมุขโดย ง่าย เป็นคนมีความยับยั้งชั่งใจ จะฝ่าไฟเหลืองก็รู้จักเบรก จะ นอนกับเพศตรงข้ามก็รู้จักป้องกันตัว พบเพื่อนชวนเสพยาก็ คิดถึงพ่อแม่ก่อนตัดสินใจเสพ เป็นต้น จะเห็นว่าการควบคุม มาจากภายใน มิใช่มาจากภายนอก พ่อแม่ไม่มีปัญญาตาม เขาทุกฝีก้าว

‘To undergo difficulties before being able to be happy’ and ‘to learn when to stop playing or having fun’ not only comes from the inside but are also skills that we can ‘coach’. The parents themselves have to help the children practice.

Parents who take this for granted will say they love their children while gradually hurting those poor kids by their actions. In the future, children have to encounter strong temptations and plenty of evil things. They need to tolerate those bad things and not be obsessed with them. Parents are the ones who can help them get through.

“ลำ�บากก่อนสบายทีหลัง” และ “ถอนตัวจากความสนุก” นอกจากจะเกิดจากวินัยภายในแล้ว ยังเป็นทักษะที่ต้อง ฝึกฝนและต้องการโค้ชคือพ่อแม่คอยฝึกฝน พ่อแม่ที่ปล่อย ปละละเลยไม่ฝึก ฝนทัก ษะเหล่านี้เป็น พ่อแม่ที่รัก ลูก แต่ปาก หากทำ�ร้ายลูกด้วยการกระทำ� ในอนาคตลูกต้องเผชิญ อบายมุขและปิศาจอีกมาก เขาต้องอดทนที่จะผ่านไปและ อดทนที่จะไม่ลุ่มหลง ไม่มีใครเก่งเรื่องแบบนี้ตั้งแต่เกิด ต้องฝึก ผมตอบคำ�สัมภาษณ์ทั้งสี่ข้อสั้นมาก ผู้ผลิตรายการว่าจะไป 31 ตัดต่อให้เหลือหนึ่งนาที Photos Reference: http://www.familycontinuum.com/events-home.php http://www.newkidscenter.com/Family-Activities.html http://www.visitdenmark.co.uk/en-gb/denmark/go-camping-denmark-perfect-pitch http://www.familytentcenter.com/

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4. How do I raise my children?

Children need to undergo difficulties before they are happy. I ask my children to help do the housework before they can play or let them finish their homework before they can enjoy TV time.

I let them learn how to ‘have fun’ and let them learn how to ‘stop’. They need to be able to control themselves and this can be difined as ‘self-discipline’. Self-discipline is not concerned with ethics but it is somehow connected to the ‘bond’ with the parents and it is a ‘skill’ that can be practiced. Self-discipline is not originated from what teachers teach, what monks preach or by meditation. Basically it is originated from the ‘secure attachment’ between parents and children. This secure attachment is invisible but endless. When children are away from their family and study abroad, for example, they still maintain this attachment. In every aspect of their lives, they will be able to control themselves. For example, they will not break the traffic rules. They will learn to protect themselves from harmful sexual behaviours. They will say no to drugs. All because they consider their parents’ feelings. These behaviours are originated from their inside.

Parents cannot look after and control them at all times.

Events&Activities

By Pakkrad Grade 11

High School Lock In at Concordian The Lock-In, an overnight event for students from grades 9 through 12, hosted by a group of grade 11 students was held on January 31st, 2016. Everyone had pizza for dinner and also had many activities to choose from that included: FIFA tournament projected hugely in the function room, movies, League of Legends competition, and half court sports in the gym. The main purpose of organizing the Lock-In is not only to provide a fun, bonding night to us all, but also to raise funds for the Class of 2017 School Build Project as well. In the end, the lock-in committee has to say big THANK YOU to the chaperones (Mr. Harvey, Dr. C, P’Noon, P’Aoh, and P’Prinz), and Mr. Rich for helping us with organizing as a whole and all the students that participated in this event. We hope that everyone enjoyed this Lock-In!

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Lock In Organizer Team

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he History Bowl & Bee Club spent March 12 at ICS competing in the invitation-only Thailand Championships of the History Bowl & Bee. The History Bowl & Bee is the world’s largest and most prestigious quiz organization that focusses exclusively on the subjects of History and Geography. Despite having one of the smallest teams in this highly competitive tournament, our team and individual members were outstanding and represented Concordian very well.

For the History Bee, which is an individual competition, out of over 25 of the very best History students in the Kingdom, Kong placed fourth overall and qualified for the Asian Championships.

Weimin nearly won the entire Varsity competition and ended up finishing second and taking home the coveted Silver medal. Mac, who had never before competed in the History Bowl and Bee, was a finalist in a very competitive Junior Varsity tournament that also had over 25 participants, from schools all over Thailand. Mac also qualified for the History Bee of the Asian Championships. With her deep knowledge of Chinese and Asian history, Inc’s participation proved instrumental to our team’s success in the History Bowl.

I am proud of all four students for their knowledge, dedication and sportsmanship. While we will be sad to lose Weimin and Kong, our experienced and talented co-captains, to graduation this year, I think the team has a bright Join me in congratulating Mac (G9), Inc (G11), future with Inc and Mac taking the reigns for next Kong (G12) and Weimin (G12), who managed to year. finish third overall in the Thailand Championships (Varsity Division) for the History Bowl, which is a If you love history and want to have fun team competition. We faced fierce competition from answering history trivia questions and schools as far away as Chiang Mai and as large competing with the best and brightest from all over as NIST and Ruamrudee. We managed to earn Thailand and Asia, please contact me and I will third place and qualify once again for the Asian gladly sign you up for the History BowlTeam. The only Championships, that will be held in Khao Lak, prerequisite is a passion for learning history and Thailand in June. We also qualified for the geography. We are even open to building a highly prestigious and invitation-only International middle school team and a full junior varsity (under History Olympiad, which will be held in Hawaii over 17) team, so all current Grade 5 through Grade the summer vacation.

11 students can email me to sign up for the team.

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8.15-9-50 am 10-00-10.40am 10-45-11.30am

K2 and K3 at Soccer field Nursery in old gym K1 in old gym

T

he children participated in a range of different activities like javelin throw, foxtail throw, egg and spoon race, three legged race, hurdle relay race, hop ball race, running race, sack race etc.

Children, staff and parents thoroughly enjoyed the day in glorious sunshine. “It was a lovely day and the children did really well. It was great to see so many parents come along to cheer the children on in their events!�

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PYP had a very successful, fun, and healthy sports day.

Below are just a few highlights of the wonderful day for all:

By: Mr. Joao Delgado

A big thank you to all the parents, teachers, support staff and Administration for all their support in making PY Sports Day happens this year!

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Students demonstrated a range of skills they have learned throughout the year in a variety of physical activities and games.

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Events&Activities

Students displayed cooperation in team-based activities and showed great sportsmanship as they cheered on and encouraged their classmates throughout the day.

It was a great day of bringing the school community together to celebrate student growth and achievement in Sports.

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Thank you to all who came out to support, encourage, cheer, organize and help!

Until the next Sports Day everyone...

Events&Activities

O

n December 16 and 17, the Concordian International School Amphitheater was once again filled with an enthusiastic cheering crowd as the EY students in their magnificent costumes, sang, danced, and acted their little hearts out!

Our cute little ones brought out the “ooohhhhs”, “ahhhhs”, and “wow”, from our spectators.

This year’s theme, “The Perfect Gift,” highlighted all the things that make the holiday season so special - Christmas tree, little bells, pets, robots, trips, earth, friends, and family, bound by love, are just some of the creative, diverse, and adorable performances that warmed the hearts of our audience. An extra special touch to the show, was the huge gift at the center of the stage, where students performed at their best. Huge thanks to Khun Varnnee, Mr. Laurent, Khun Boonsri, Khun Tuk, and the maintenance team, for that. Ms. Norylove, Ms. Shella, and Mrs. Maricor, with the full support of our EY homeroom teachers, specialists & Thai teachers, support teachers, teacher assistants, and staff, and especially all of our EY parents, made our little performers rise to every challenge they faced, and delivered a delightful show that was very well received by everyone.

A special appearance by “Santa Claus and his Elf,” (Mr. Joao & Mr. Jared), enchanted the audience too by ushering and spreading the holiday spirit!

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参加 “校园好声音” 的比赛是 2016 一次十分难忘的经 历！对我们来说，能登上舞台为同学们表演已经证明了 我们的勇气和能力。记得刚开始报名时，同学们都不想 参加。后来在许多老师的鼓励下，我和同学抱着试一试 的心态决定参加了。我们积极地选歌和排练。一开始我 认为没什么大不了的，可是表演的时间越来越近，我的 心里就开始打起小鼓，因为怕准备得不够，又怕唱不 好。记得表演前一天，老师还帮我们排练到很晚呢！到 了登台表演那一天，虽然没有获得名次，但是我们心里 都感到了一种从未有过的成就。这一次中文唱歌比赛使 我们获得了很多经验和学习的机会。 It was a monumental experience to participate in the 2016’s Concordian Voice competition. Due to the limited time we had left, the performance wasn’t as good as we aimed for ourselves. However, after the chaotic performance there wasn’t a slight feeling of failure, just unsatisfied. Instead, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Under the encouragement of the Chinese teachers, more students participated. From the performance, as a participant, I have gained a new experience that could be beneficial to me in the future.

(Written by G7 Beibei) On the 5th of February, I participated in the Voice of Concordian and things went well over my expectations.

I won and learned a lot from this experience. Since I’ve stopped singing for several years, I had to face some mental challenges. For instance, singing in front of a big crowd made me very nervous, but because of all the support from the teachers, friends, and my family, I overcame all of those obstacles. In my opinion, a person’s own encouragement is as important as the support from others. You need to have passion for what you are doing. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for supporting me and helping me become more passionate in singing.

(Written by G9 Mew)

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我觉得做我们曼谷国际英汉学校每年的The Voice的裁判 是一个很有趣的经验。在VIP的座位上看到我的同学们 的表演，我很享受。我觉得这些节目都很有趣，有些唱 得好，有些跳得好。我觉得我很想明年能再次坐到这个 座位上，而且我也很期待明年的表演。 Being the student judge for Concordian’s annual Chinese the Voice contest was a remarkable experience for me. I really enjoyed the performances of my classmates, and my upper and lower school classmates. All the performances were really amazing in different ways. There was wonderful singing, rapping and dancing, and I had the chance to see it all on a VIP seat. I would give a lot of things to have the chance to sit on that seat again, and I feel excited to see what performances we’ll get next year.

(Written by G10 Pien-Pien) 在 the voice of concordian 做学生评委有一点难，因为 我们不想别人受伤。有的时候，有的人比较好，可是 如果大家都选那个人，没有被选的学生会非常伤心，所 以我选的时候觉得很难。我觉得学生们唱的歌声都非常 好，他们练习了很多。我特别喜欢跳舞的，因为看起来 很好玩，明年我觉得 the voice 会更好的！ It was interesting being the student judge for the Voice of Concordian season 3, I really enjoyed being the student judge. I enjoyed listening to the voices of very talented students and had lots of fun. One of the challenges of being a student judge is that you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings by not picking them.

During the competition there were moments where no one picked the other. I felt really bad.

(Written by G7 Soomi) The Voice Concordian我参加了两年，学到了很多新的 东西。我听了很多的中文歌，也可以跟我的朋友们一 起努力做一件事情。The Voice Concordian 还让我变 成思想开明的人，因为我听中文歌的时候，也学到了 中国人的习俗，我很喜欢听中文歌！最后，我认为不 管你是哪国人，说什么语言，音乐都在我们的心里。 What I have learned from joining The Voice Concordian for 2 years is that I get to listen to more Chinese songs, and also I can do activities that allow me to cooperate with my friends. Joining The Voice Concordian helps me to be more open-minded because I get to listen to a variety of Chinese songs. I really enjoy listening to them. I have learned that no matter what nationality you are or what language you speak, you will still have music in your heart.

(Written by G9 Almond)

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or this Chinese New Year 2016, Concordian International School PYP section organized The Voice of Concordian – Chinese Singing Contest, giving all the students an opportunity to shine on the stage!

The Great Voice Award Winners are Pear (G2S), Cheva(G2Y), Proud(G3T) and Kyla (G4IC)

Since the beginning of the competition, our PYP students showed great passion and enthusiasm towards singing Chinese songs! We had more than 50 participants who decided to join the Voice Auditions and all participants demonstrated their singing talents and amazing courage on the stage. Many performances were really inspiring to others!

The Excellent Voice Award Winners are Khao Mai (G2N) and KhaoJao (G5M)

After the audition, twelve finalists were selected to compete in the Voice Finale on the 5th of February 2016. All the finalists’ performances were truly heartfelt and wonderful! They were all shining stars on the stage and it was amazing to see all of our students’ talents, commitment and growth!

Let’s hear what our winners would like to share about this experience: Proud(G3T): 站在舞台上让我觉得自己 充满力量，我希望我可以一直唱歌给大家 听。Standing on the stage makes me feel Khao Mai(G2C):我参加过很多次比赛， powerful. I hope I will never stop singing. 可是这是我第一次参加中文唱歌比赛。我 Cheva(G2Y) and Pear (G2S): 得到第二名我 很怕我会唱错。I attended many singing 们觉得很开心，因为我们尽了自己最大的努 contests, but this Chinese singing contest is 力。We felt very happy that I was in second my first time. I was nervous that I would make mistakes on the stage. place because we did the best we could.

Kyla(G4IC):我很喜欢唱歌，但是以前我不 太喜欢唱中文歌。参加了好声音比赛以后， 看到别的同学的表演，让我想学更多、唱更 多中文歌。I always really like singing, but I didn’t like singing Chinese songs before.

The Voice of Concordian gave me an opportunity to listen to other people singing. Now I want to learn more and sing more Chinese songs.

The Good Voice Award winner Khrista (G5Y)

Special Guest Khun Wannipa Singing Chinese Song

Katie & Nana(G2C): 我们赢了！我们很开 心。这是第一次我们表演。表演不是太难。 如果你想表演你要勇敢，不紧张。We were very glad we won. This was the first time we joined a contest. We felt it was not too difficult. You need to be brave if you would like to perform.

Masters of the Ceremony (left to right) Sophia (G2Y), Clare (G2Y), Kurtis(G2N) and Burger (G2S)

Khao Jao(G5M):在这次比赛中我得了冠 军，我非常开心。但是，其实我为了好声音 非常努力的练习。但是现在，我觉得这一切 都是值得的！I was delightful when I heard I won the first prize of the Voice. Actually, I practiced very hard for the contest. Now I think it was all worth it.

Khrista (G5Y): 参加这个比赛我很开心。在 台上唱歌的时候，我一点也不紧张。因为我 已经上台过很多次了。I am glad that I could join the Voice. I was not nervous at all since I have rich stage experience.

In addition to the students’ performance, we also would like to thank our English teachers being risk takers as they sang our Concordian school song in Chinese on the stage: Mr. Tye, Mr. Yuri, Ms. Shari, Ms. Maile, Ms. Nathalie and Mr. Laurent!

The Good Voice winners Katie (G2C) and Nana(G2C)

Concordian parents are always supportive and have many talents as well! This year, we had the honor to invite Khun Wannipa as our special guest to sing a Chinese song for us.

Her breath-taking voice brought us to a professional singer’s concert and pushed the whole show to a climax.

With all of the collaboration of our PYP Chinese team, school administrators, IT teams, maintenance teams as well as with the ultimate support of our Concordian parents, the Voice of Concordian Season I was an absolute success. It brought the passion of learning Chinese and singing together! We look forward to the Voice of Concordian Season II next year!

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Teachers’ singing Concordian Song in Chinese (Left to right) -Ms. Cindy, Mr. Tye, Ms. Lynn, Mr. Yuri and Ms. Joycelyn

Teachers’ singing Concordian Song in Chinese (Left to right) -Ms.Maile, Mr. Laurent, Ms. Nathalie, Ms. Yvonne, Ms. Shari and Ms. Sally

By: Ms. Ariel Wang

Events&Activities

By: Convict Dance Crew G9-10

O

n the 26th of February, Concordian’s first official dance club joined its first competition at KPIS International School’s annual dance challenge.

Founded by Pena and Prim in 2015, our goal is to make a dance community in Concordian that is diverse, fun, and an alternative for students who are interested in all types of dance. Seeing a lack of that community in our school led to the creation of Convict Dance Crew.

As a student-run club, the 12 out of 16 students in this club, from Grades 9 and 10, had only two or three weeks to come up with choreography and practice. Time and effort was spent in and after school, and practice was serious and efficient. However, our greatest effort was for the members to have fun, so there was no pressure.

Most of the choreography done for the competition was student-made, the only exception being the intro. This was not possible without the motivation and responsibility that each and every member put into being part of this club.

Practice was hard, the competition was tough, and we lost, but this is an experience we will never forget. Unlike other schools that have had years of experience and dance coaches/students, we only had each other.

We hope that through competing and our performances, we can make the dance community more recognized at Concordian, and show other schools what we’ve got. We strive to make the school, and most importantly, our ourselves proud.

We would like to give a huge thank you to all the teachers who motivated and helped us when we lost hope who are listed below: Coach K, for giving us the opportunity to join this competition in the first place and always vouching for us and the dancers of Concordian.

Ms Deborah, for being our biggest fan.

Thank you for being there to motivate us and being our chaperone, that means a lot to us.

Ms Maria, for being a chaperone alongside Ms. Deborah on such short notice.

Thank you for helping to take care of the members.

P’Cindy, for taking your time to help us figure out our difficulties regarding paperwork.

Without you this wouldn’t be possible.

P’Aoh, for helping us in the last minute and being a very understanding person.

Without you, too, this wouldn’t be possible.

Dr James, for officially allowing us to partake in this competition.

Without your understanding heart we would’ve not been able to showcase what we were practicing so hard for.

Your support was the reason why we could partake in this competition, and get one step closer to our goal. Thank you so much.

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We would also like to thank the parents of every member for understanding the responsibility being in this club takes. Special thanks to Almond’s mom for allowing us to practice in your studio and Li’s mom for filming and cheering us on at KPIS.

Events&Activities

T

he PTA committee and parent volunteers spent a lot of effort organizing this event and it was a very time-consuming endeavor for all of us. When we came up with the idea of the Festival of Love, one of the main goals was to involve the parents, teachers, students and staff of Concordian. We wanted to be a Concordian event for Concordians by Concordians.

All those who volunteered time, effort, money and love into organizing the various booths helped make the event a huge success. It was exceptionally special to see our own Concordian students, teachers and parents perform on stage. We managed to raise 250,000 baht for The Cardiac Children Foundation Of Thailand through a Raffle draw that was sponsored by many wonderful people. This hopefully means that we helped make a difference in the lives of 10-12 children with heart problems. It was a great time for all Concordians to come to celebrate, have fun and also do some good.

The Festival Of Love 2016 was a tremendous success and let’s see what we have in store for the coming year!

By Gilbert Lim

Concordian PTA Festival of Love Committee Chair

O

n my behalf, The Concordian Operation Smile Club would like to thank the PTA for giving us an opportunity to raise money to support Operation Smile Thailand. Operation Smile Club aims to provide financial funds as well as bring students for volunteer work to help families that cannot financially support surgery for their children with cleft lips or palates. We raised over 5,000 baht in profits by selling various flavors of popcorn and we really appreciate all the support that the Concordian community has shown.

By Kevin Palanuwech, G11

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Events&Activities

W

hat an incredible day of chess it was! This was Concordian’s first time to host an interschool chess tournament. Inviting top players from other schools to compete against us was an unforgettable experience. There really was a buzz of excitement in the air!

This was a unique tournament because it involved teams racing against each other. With groups of four, each member competed to collect points for their team. It was amazing to witness how teammates supported each other. Well done!

This tournament would not have been possible without the huge interest of Concordian students, PTA, and everyone else who was involved! Thank you for making this such a successful tournament!

Here are the team results for each age category:

Under 8: 2nd runner-up: Yuro, Garfield, and Jade Under 12: 1st runner-up: Ninja, Manta, and Ty 2nd runner-up: Kaoklong, Man, and Mon Under 18: 1st runner-up: Krij, Calvin, and Ali Written by Mr. Tye

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Events&Activities

‘Intramurals’ is a House Points Championship where students can earn team points either through participation in games or through demonstrating positive behaviour throughout the school.

The Orange Owls, Brown Bear Cats, Green Gators and Purple Penguins engage in this friendlycompetition on a weekly basis during their lunch hour and can also earn points in their classes by demonstrating the Learner Profile Attributes, Attitudes and Concordian Values.

Intramurals is a great way to bring the PY students together to not only promote the importance of physical activity in our daily lives, but to encourage students to learn about sportsmanship and cooperation.

Through team-building sports and games, students develop confidence, improve a range of grossmotor skills, learn about the importance of cooperation and demonstrate enthusiasm.

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Events&Activities

O

n Friday February 26, the grade 7 students travelled to the Thai Islamic Centre and Assumption Church for their Humanities class. The students had just finished learning about Christianity and Islam in their World Religions unit. Accompanied by Ms. Kim, Mr. Gabe, Ms. Kelsey, Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Oylum, and Mr. Rich, the students enjoyed seeing and learning about Islam, the Mosque, Christianity, and the Church. They also enjoyed some Lebanese food at Nadimos Restaurant for lunch. All in all it was a great day!

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Events&Activities

By: Ms. Erin and Ms. Kelsey

T

here are exciting things happening in the library this semester!

Library Staff Celebrating Dr. Seuss’s Birthday!!!

Andy Wright is a storyteller who shares stories from New Zealand.

We loved learning to do the Haka!!

Students enjoying the MYP library.

The MYP Library is a great place to relax, study, and collaborate.

Last semester, we were fortunate to open the new MYP Library, a space for students in middle school to study, relax, and read.

The students have enjoyed making the space their own, adding their own personalities to the room. The library has been purchasing new books for the shelves in Thai, Chinese, and English, building the collection of enjoyable reading for the students with their input and ideas.

In the PYP Library, we have added a Mobile Book Cart for the G3-5 students.

We have also added some puzzles to our collection for children to check out and play with. Not to mention, we have enjoyed two great visiting authors and celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday!

Watch for updates on these upcoming events!

Love of Reading Week Book Fair Used Book Exchange Author Visit

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We love playing with the puzzles and checking them out to use at home!

The Mobile Library Book Cart is up and running, the last few minutes of recess G3-5 can check out and return books here!!!

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